AMD chops desktop processor prices

Single-core products still present, despite rumours

AMD today took the axe to its desktop processor price list, knocking up to almost 30 per cent off what it charges for its gaming, mainstream and budget CPUs, as expected. Still, an much-anticipated move to drop single-core chips from the line-up did not take place.

From the top down, AMD cut the price of the 3GHz Athlon 64 FX-74 from $799 to $599, a drop of 25 per cent. The dual-core FX-72's price remains unchanged, at $599, but the remainder of AMD's dual-core desktop CPUs, the Athlon 64 X2 line, all became cheaper by between 29.8 per cent and 15.4 per cent.

Pruned from the list: the X2 3600+ and the X2 3800+. In their place come a 65W 4200+ and an 89W 4200+, in both Socket AM2 and Socket 939 forms.

The single-core Athlon 64 series, which some websites were last week alleging were for the chop today, all saw $10-15 knocked off their prices, making for cuts of 12.7-17.2 per cent. One of the three 3500+ that appear on AMD's previous public price list now no longer appears: the "energy efficient" version aimed at small form-factor systems.

That still leaves an energy efficient 3500+ on the list, but the energy efficient Sempron chips also offered for small form-factor systems are gone. The remaining desktop Semprons saw their prices fall from between 11.9 per cent and 23.2 per cent.

AMD's cuts come ahead of arch-rival Intel's next round of price reductions, expected to take place on 22 July - on which date the chip giant is also expected to roll out revised Core 2 Duo and other desktop processors that up the maximum frontside bus speed to 1333MHz.